Accusers Plan to Sue Sandusky’s Foundation

One of the young men who has accused the former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky of sexual abuse sought an injunction Wednesday to stop the Second Mile charity from transferring or divesting its assets. In court papers, the accuser said he and others planned to sue the charity, which was founded by Sandusky in 1977 and reported assets of more than $9 million last year.

In the papers filed in a Pennsylvania state court, lawyers for the accusers also maintain that there are at least 11 people who have been victimized by Sandusky who have come forward and who will probably file civil claims against the Second Mile.

Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator at Penn State, has been charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse. Lawyers for the accusers said officials of the Second Mile were negligent for failing to report what they knew of earlier sexual abuse accusations against Sandusky over several years. Grand jury testimony in the case indicated that the Second Mile learned of concerns about Sandusky’s contact with boys, including occasions when he showered with them, nearly a decade ago.

“We felt it was necessary to take this action after learning the organization was considering transferring its programs and not continuing its operations,” Benjamin Andreozzi and Jeffrey Fritz, lawyers for a client they referred to as Victim 4, said in a statement. “We believe it is in the best interest of our clients, as well as the other victims, to ensure that the organization is being financially responsible.”

Andreozzi, based in Harrisburg, Pa., has advised or is representing several Sandusky accusers. He recently partnered with Fritz, a Philadelphia lawyer. The injunction requests that Second Mile assets “not be dissipated, encumbered or in any way obligated or disturbed in any form and should be available to victims of sexual abuse.”

In the court papers, Andreozzi and Fritz assert that the Second Mile was reckless in its hiring, supervision and retention of Sandusky and negligent when it did not contact law enforcement or child protective services when it learned of sexual abuse accusations. The papers also maintain that the charity failed to properly supervise Sandusky’s one-on-one or overnight activities with the boys he came in contact with through the Second Mile.

On Nov. 14, the Second Mile accepted the resignation of Jack Raykovitz, who was the charity’s chief executive for 28 years. Last week, the Second Mile’s interim chief said the charity’s directors were considering closing the organization or transferring its programs, which primarily serve disadvantaged youths, to other nonprofit organizations.

“The injunction would not interrupt the everyday operations of the Second Mile or its existing operations,” Andreozzi and Fritz said. “We hope that the organization has enacted appropriate policies and procedures to prevent this tragic situation from ever occurring again. We have reached out to attorneys for the Second Mile in the hope that appropriate safeguards against the dissipation of assets can be reached, but are proceeding with these legal measures in order to protect the interests of our clients and other victims in the event we are unable to come to an agreement.”